Enrichment is defined as the addition of essential vitamins and minerals to processed agricultural commodities, such as flour, that is intended for human consumption. The final concentration of the vitamins and minerals in the food product is regulated and monitored by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Failure to meet the requirements established by the FDA can result in an expensive recall of the final product after it has been placed on the market.
Currently, product enrichment occurs at milling facilities by augering powder form of the vitamins and minerals into a stream of flour. This method of enrichment has a number of inherent problems, resulting in a non-uniform disbursement of the vitamins and minerals throughout the product. Because of the great variability and inaccuracy of the prior art enrichment process, the enriched food products are frequently outside FDA specifications, and therefore subject to expensive product recall.